Ten Facts You Should Remember In Public Speaking

Have you experienced standing before a group of people while delivering a speech? Did you get sweaty palms, dry mouth, weak knees, shaky hands and butterflies on your stomach? If yes, then you have "speech anxiety". Speaking in public can be the most unpleasant experience for an individual. Almost everyone experience anxiety when giving speeches. Many of us would like to avoid this problem entirely, but it is quite difficult. There will always comes a time that we really need to speak in public and get certain task to accomplished. And if we want to be leaders or attain anything meaningful in our lives, we will often need to speak to groups be it large or small, to be successful.

Here are 10 facts you should remember about Public Speaking

1.Speaking in public is not that stressful.

Before you let your fear conquer you to speak in public, think of those politicians, teachers, and other authorities who always speak in front of many people. We cannot say that all of them are very good speaker in an instant. But one thing is for sure, they all gone on the process in which they feel nervous. Yet, they learned to eliminate the fear in public speaking. If they can, why can't you, right?

2. You don't need to be brilliant or perfect to succeed.

Many of us have heard and seen public speakers who are very excellent and somehow we might think that we cannot be like them and we can't be successful.  Remember, that is not what public speaking is all about. You might be the average speaker or below average but you can still be successful.  The essence of public speaking is not to impress but to give your audience something to value of. If they get some value or appreciate your speech, that will be considered automatically a success.

3. You just have to emphasize two or three main points.

Studies have shown that people remember very few of the facts or information the speakers have said. With this, we can say that speakers don't have to deliver mountain of facts or details to give to their audience. Remember that you just have to give something on them that has value. If you structure your talks with few key points, you can avoid many unnecessary complexities.

4. You need a purpose that is suitable for the task.

Always remember that the purpose of public speaking is to give something and not to get something such as approval, fame, respect, friends or fans.  All you have to do is to give something of value.  One big mistake  people make when they speak is that they try to get 100% approval of the audience. And if someone from the audience looked uninterested, sleepy or leaves early in what you are saying, you already feel defeated. If you think this way, just ask yourself if there is a public speaker who get 100% approval from their audience? The answer is absolutely none because we cannot please everybody.  The truth about public speaking is no matter how good you think of your speech, there is always someone who will disapprove on you. That is part of human nature. What you just have to do is to give your part as a speaker.

5. Do not consider yourself as a Public Speaker!

It sounds very strange but it is the best thing for you to be successful. Express yourself naturally and do not try to be like somebody else. If you try to be as natural as you speak , you can make much better contact with the audience. It might give you some sort of difficulty at first, but after a while, you'll settle into some very successful ways of having a character that is yours and not somebody else.

6. Humility and Humor can help you a long way.

Humility and having a sense of humour can help you make your speech more enjoyable and entertaining. Audience tend to listen more if the speaker knows how to make the speech lively by sharing their sense of humour.  Aside from that, being humble in front of others makes you more credible and more believable. People can identify you more easily. You become one of them instead of a remote expert who is superior on them.

7. Think Positive!

Always visualize your self that you can make it in public speaking. You are what you think of. If you are thinking of success, it will more likely to come your way and if you don't, the more negative effect might result. Condition your mind  for a successful speaking activity and you'll have it. Once you've successfully applied this principle many times, you will overcome your anxiety about public speaking.

8. You don't have to control the behaviour of your audience.

If you are always thinking of how to control your audience while you are speaking, you will  just make yourself stress.  There are certain things you do need to control such as your thoughts, preparation, arrangements for audio-visual aids and others related to it. One thing you don't have to control is your audience. They will do  whatever they do because they think whatever they do is usually right.

9. The more you prepare, the worse you will do.

If you know your topic well, all you need is a few minutes to prepare sufficiently. Just keep in mind that you have to emphasize 2 to 3 key points with several good examples and supporting facts.

Too much preparation may mean 2 things : you don't know your subject well or you know it, but you don't feel confident on your ability to speak in front of the audience. With the first one, you'll need to do some extra research. And with the other one, you'll need to develop trust in your natural ability to speak successfully.

10. Your audience truly wants you to succeed.

Most audiences are truly forgiving. You audience truly wants you to succeed. Most of them are really scared and nervous of public speaking, just like you. They know the risk of  embarrassment, humiliation and failure you can or might have every time you speak in front of audience. And they will surely admire you for your courage.  A slip of a tongue or a mistake of any kind might seem a big deal for you but not for your audience. Their judgements and appraisals will usually be much more lenient than yours.